Voice of Survival
by Magic Shade
Summary: It's 3 years after Empire City. We all know who the Voice of Survival was. Or do we? Join Jack, Malty and Jessy as they follow Joshua Barrets' journey through nearly three weeks of quarantine through the video recordings he left behind.


Voice of Survival

Chapter 1: Welcome to Hell

Just a little side story I'm writing to get the juices flowing. Not abandoning my Naruto Fanfic, A Place in Time for this. Don't expect regular updates for this story.

---Start---

A man in a long black trench coat stepped over dead electrical wires and smashed television screens. He sneered at the blood that lay splattered over the crushed concrete. To his left stood a desk. The chair behind it lay empty and covered in a fine dust. He bent down and rubbed a white material between his fingers watching it crumble. He snorted before standing once more.

He looked over at a wall with a camera set up in front of it. It had a white cloth draped across the back of it, an emblem of 'V.O.S' sloppily painted over it. He looked over at the video editing station that lay deep within the former television broadcasting station. A stack of DVD's lay sloppily stacked next to a computer. Picking one up, he glanced at it.

It had black marker on it. It read, "Day 1. The Blast." The man raised an eyebrow at the title. Glancing through the stack of disks, they were subsequently labeled different days, some of them with special titles. He picked them up, and placed them into his pocket. Popping open the camera, he found a last unmarked disk inside of it. Taking it out he slipped it into his pocket. He stepped over a hand that stuck out from underneath a chunk of concrete, long-dried blood staining the area around it. He barely glanced at it.

---Break---

The man stepped into a black van waiting outside. Motioning to the driver the van took off. He watched impassively as they passed through the districts of Empire City. Three years ago the city had been Code Blued. They had dropped a Blue Bomb, eradicating any form of life within its range. However, when they went in, what they found was not at all what they had expected.

Demented creatures with powers. They assaulted them with growls and hisses trying to plunge claws into their bodies. They were quickly handled. One person whom they had found wore a form of yellow and black jacket and sports pants. His body was found impaled on a metal pole. Blood dripped from his open mouth as he hung on the pole. His wallet had an ID for a Cole McGraff. They had swept the city looking for any evidence of what exactly occurred in Empire City after the Quarantine had gone up.

The only one who had any inclination was a Federal Agent, Moya Brown. She was currently being held in a Maximum Security Prison, as she refused to talk. She had been caught funneling funds from Government accounts to fund a Mercenary Force. She had used this force for covert operations in Empire City, acting as the Military.

The Government had undergone severe restructuring from the aftermath of Empire City. The CDC now controlled a majority of the Armed Forces. The FBI and CIA had seized control of the House and the Senate respectively. The President was nothing but a figurehead, a picture to placate the people.

Jack Milter was one of the few that sought to restore the Government. He was searching Empire City for any clues as to how this happened, and how to prevent it from happening again. The CDC, FBI, and CIA had used Empire City as an excuse to take control. He wouldn't let it happen again.

The van pulled up in front of a small building. Jack, his trench coat muddied and black stepped out. He fingered the disks in his pocket. They were the only link they had found.

Entering the building, he headed to the basement. A computer array stood against one wall, a small living area stood on the far area of the large basement. A portly young man sat on a large red couch a doughnut protruding from his mouth. He gave an excited wave and a toothy grin when he saw Jack. Jack sighed and waved back.

The man was Matt "Malty" Swathers. He received the nickname from his love of Malted Milk Balls. He was a large and kind fellow, plus, he was a computer genius. He was often referred to as the stereotypical nerd, but no one ever dared to say that to his face. He had quite the temper when angered.

Jack heard someone coming down the stairs. Turning around he saw a woman wearing a simple outfit, a red shirt, black leather jacket and pants. She wore no shoes. She gave a smile and waved at Malty who waved back.

"So I see you're back Jack." He nodded. "Did Skotty run into any trouble?" Jack shook his head. Skotty was their van driver. He was never seen eating or drinking and he resembled a Skeleton. His real name was Scott, but his appearance and his affectionate, but stern, attitude earned him that nickname.

"I found an old abandoned television station." The two weren't surprised. "The door was busted open already. It looked like someone had barricaded it from the inside." That drew their attention. They were now hanging on his every word. "I found some old video equipment inside. It looks like someone catalogued everything that they experience during the Quarantine." The two were practically drooling at the information. This was a gold mine. "I'm not sure how much of it is useful, but I found all of these." He produced the disks. Malty's eyes lit up at that. Disk technology was rather uncommon these days.

"Well let's get these things started. Malty think you can run 'em?" Malty nodded in delight at the girl's words. Jack just looked at her as he handed the disks to Malty.

"Look, Jessy, we don't know if these things are going to be able to run. They're years old probably." He glanced at Malty for help only to see him insert the first disk into a dusty drive. The screen flickered for a moment before a picture came up. The only sound was ragged breathing as the camera bounced around. "Well I'll be damned…"

The screen shook and the face of a young man with wild black hair appeared up close. "This… this is Joshua Barrets. I'm an intern working for VTS TV. Today was my third week of working here. I… I came in late today. I came in just as everyone was scrambling about. They… they told me to go sort the Tapes or… or something! There... there was a heist of some sort at the Historic District Bank. While they were there… there was some sort of... explosion of some sort! I don't know what it was but… they didn't come back. I'm getting video feed from some of the cameras right now…" The camera shifted to show other screens.

People were running and screaming. People tripped and were pounced upon. They were beaten to death and ripped to shreds. Clothing, money, jewelry, anything of value was stolen. One man fired a handgun at a woman. He was immediately attacked by snarling beasts who upon close examination were insane people. The blood splattered across the screen obscuring part of the lens. It shifted back to Joshua.

"It's a nightmare out there. I've already started barricading the doorways and windows. I... I don't know what's going on. I'm not sure what to do next. I need time to think this out. This… this isn't Empire City anymore… This is turning into hell." The recording went black for a moment before it started up again. Two anchors in nice suits sat behind a desk.

"In other news, a series of Bank Robberies have begun occurring in South Dakota. There are currently no suspects. That's all the news for this Wednesday Night. Good Night America!" The recording went black once more and ended.

Malty, Jessy and Jack just stared at the screen. There had been someone alive in Empire City. Someone with News Equipment. His name was Joshua Barrets, and he had somehow landed in the middle of Hell.

---End---

We're going to be seeing a LOT more of Joshua Barrets. Malty, Jessy and Jack will play small roles. Look for more of this story later.


End file.
